The Horrors of Sexual Trafficking

The Horrors of Sexual Trafficking, American-Style


By John W. Whitehead
9/8/2009


Jaycee Lee Dugard's case is every parent's nightmare, a troubling
reminder that the evils of this world are not confined to dark alleys
in big cities. Behind Suburbia's illusion of safety lurks an often
seedy and troubled reality. It is a world of sexual trafficking, where
children are sold as sexual commodities.

Eleven-year-old Jaycee was hurrying to catch a school bus when she was snatched off the street
by convicted rapist Phillip Garrido. For the next 18 years, Jaycee was
held captive in Garrido's backyard in a nondescript neighborhood in
Antioch, Calif. He allegedly fathered her two children.

But this type of tortured reality doesn't stop with Jaycee Lee Dugard. For
example, Debbie, a straight-A student who belonged to a close-knit Air
Force family living in Phoenix, Ariz., was 15 when she was snatched
from her driveway by an acquaintance-friend. Forced into a car, Debbie
was bound and taken to an unknown location, held at gunpoint and raped
by multiple men. She was then crammed into a small dog kennel and
forced to eat dog biscuits. Debbie's captors advertised her services on
Craigslist. Those who responded were often married with children, and
the money that Debbie "earned" for sex was given to her kidnappers. The
gang raping continued. After searching the apartment where Debbie was
held captive, police finally found Debbie stuffed in a drawer under a
bed. Her harrowing ordeal lasted for 40 days. Three of her four captors
have now been caught and charged (one awaits extradition).

Miya was 19 years old when a man and a woman, posing as agents for a
modeling company, kidnapped her and forced her into a life of sexual
slavery. Her captors also advertised her services online. Miya was
eventually able to escape but not before suffering the trauma of
captivity, prostitution and other harrowing abuses.

These young women somehow managed to escape the underground world of sexual slavery
and trafficking in the United States. Others, however, are not so
fortunate.

According to the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children (NCMEC), approximately 797,500 children go missing
every year. That works out to roughly 2,185 children a day. Many of these young people never find their way home again. Too many become victims of sexual trafficking and prostitution.

A 2009 report by Shared Hope International indicates that more than
100,000 children under the age of 18 are currently being trafficked in
the United States. Equally disturbing, the United States Department of
Justice reports that approximately "293,000 American youth are at risk
of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation."

This scourge affects more than just runaways, children from broken homes and
those forced out onto the streets. As Debbie's case illustrated, even
the most well-cared-for children can fall prey to sex trafficking and
become global sexual commodities, a source of disposable income for the
men and women who profit from their exploitation. Incredibly, the
average age of girls forced into prostitution and the sex trade is
between 12 and 14.

Numerous efforts have been made to combat
this growing problem. In 2003, the FBI and Department of Justice's
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section joined with NCMEC to launch
"Operation Innocence Lost." At the time of its creation, 14 field
offices in high-volume trafficking areas were opened, specialized
training courses were offered, and over 350 agents were trained. As of
October 2008, Operation Innocence Lost had grown to 28 task forces and
working groups, recovered 577 children, seized over three million
dollars in assets, and achieved 365 convictions.

One of Operation Innocence's success stories involved cracking a large sex
trafficking operation in Houston, Texas. In late August 2009, five men
and one woman were indicted on 16 counts of conspiracy and sex
trafficking of children, as well as forcing and coercing adults to
engage in commercial sex acts. Girls as young as 16 were held against
their will, prostituted and beaten. The captors operated behind various
business façades, including modeling studios, health spas, massage
parlors and bikini bars, and promoted the girls' services through
sexually-oriented websites and print publications.

Unfortunately, while Operation Innocence Lost has experienced some success, the sex
trafficking industry continues to flourish and does so under the
auspices of legitimate businesses and through internet advertisements.

There are things that can and should be done to put an end to this atrocious
and perverted business. One way is to introduce much harsher
punishments for the clients of these services. For example, in 2008,
the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act was enacted. It
imposes harsher criminal penalties for traffickers and provides
increased resources for victims in the United States.

These are steps in the right direction, but efforts to crack down on
traffickers should be reinforced with longer prison sentences, higher
fines, and the reach of the law should be expanded to include even
minor accomplices in these crimes.

But we must move beyond merely passing laws. Putting a stop to the sexual trafficking of young
people must become a top priority of federal and local police agencies.
It can largely be eradicated if the full force of the law is focused on
ferreting out those who prey on young people.

Also, more needs to be done to raise awareness of the dangers posed to children. This
means that the media must publicize the issue on a wide scale.
Moreover, children should be further warned of the dangers of these
situations in school, in our religious institutions and our homes. This
means that parents and communities need to be informed as well. Hearing
the chilling stories of victims like Jaycee, Debbie and Miya not only
provides insight into the inner-workings of the sex trade in this
country, but it may also encourage other survivors to speak out.

The only way to truly combat sex trafficking is to expose its seedy
underbelly, harshly punish perpetrators and bring justice to the
victims. Yes, as collective communities and as a nation, we must make
sexual trafficking a priority. The future of our country hangs in the
balance.

The tragic case of five-year-old Shaniya Davis, whose funeral was
paid for by pro basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, brought focus to the
problems of sexual selling and children. Her mother, Antionette Davis,
is charged with human trafficking and child abuse involving
prostitution. Mario Mc- Neill is charged with murder, rape and
kidnapping. The mother, who has a history of drug abuse, allegedly sold
the little girl for a sexual encounter. Some 2,000 people attended the
funeral last month after the young victim’s body was found in early
November beside a rural road in North Carolina.
Federal prosecutors in New York have said that a young woman from
Mexico was smuggled over the border and forced to work as a prostitute
for years in Brooklyn. The remains of an infant were found in concrete
at the home where she was held prisoner, federal prosecutors added.
The woman was beaten so frequently by her captors, sometimes with
bricks and wooden boards, that scars and bruises covered her body,
according to a federal affidavit.
Domingo Salazar and his wife, Norma Mendez, are accused of sex
trafficking and were being held without bail at Final Call presstime.
When the woman was interviewed by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents, she had a broken nose, swollen eye scars from cuts
and a disfigured finger from an old break. She doesn’t speak English.
“The trafficking of human beings and sex slavery are unconscionable
in this day and age and will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Benton
Campbell said.
If convicted, the couple faces life imprisonment.
Every year, nearly 300,000 children are at risk to sexual
exploitation in the U.S. and an estimated 500,000 incidents are not
reported. This has made the U.S. the number one destination for child
sex trafficking in the world. “For years, research has focused on the
problem of human trafficking on the international level. But, now the
problem is rising domestically and drawing more attention,” Mark Elam
of Tulsa, Okla., told The Final Call.
Elam heads Oklahomans Against Trafficking Humans (OATH), a coalition
combating the rise of human trafficking in the state. The group is
partnering with U.S. Attorney General’s office, the FBI and Immigration
and Customs Enforcement.
“I think people in America are still uneducated about exactly what
human trafficking is so there is still a lot of work to be done,” Elam
told The Final Call. Oath has been in existence for a little over a year.
In 2003 the Justice Dept. reported the largest concentrations of
trafficking survivors who received federal assistance lived in
California, Texas, New York and Oklahoma. The FBI program “Stormy
Nights” rescued 13 Oklahoma children ages 12 and up in 2004 from a
prostitution ring operating at Oklahoma City truck stops. In 2006, a
manufacturing facility in Tulsa was shut down after an Oklahoma City
federal court ruled against several men who lured people from India
into forced labor. Earlier this year, an FBI task force rescued several
girls during a Craigslist sex sting operation.
On Oct. 26, the FBI and the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children concluded Operation Cross Country IV, a national
action plan that is part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative,
which targets child prostitution.
According to the FBI, a threeday operation in 36 cities across 30
FBI divisions led to the rescue of 52 child prostitutes. Nearly 700
others, including 60 pimps, were arrested on state and local charges.
“Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our
country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the
continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces,” said an
FBI official, in a written statement.
Since its inception in 2003, the Innocence Lost Task Forces and
Working Groups have recovered about 900 children from the streets.
Convictions have exceeded 500 people, resulted in lengthy sentences and
the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.
“Child trafficking for the purposes of prostitution is organized
criminal activity using kids as commodities for sale or trade,” said
Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children.
Elam warns a staggering number of runaway children is contributing
to child sex trafficking coupled with America’s dubious distinction as
the number one producer of child pornography.
“Human trafficking of children is growing rapidly. Girls are being
forced into prostitution as early as 12-years-old. We’re working on a
state level to make people aware and help survivors,” said Elam.
OATH hosted its first national conference in October centered on
raising awareness about child sex trafficking, particularly in
Oklahoma. Workshops offering resource strategies featured experts from
Washington, D.C., Texas, Oklahoma, and Ohio.
Added Allen, “We had well over the number of expected attendees at
the conference. Going into 2010, we’re going to continue our efforts to
combat this issue,” said Elam. “These kids are victims. They lack the
ability to walk away. This is 21st century slavery.”

Southwest Florida children sold as sex slaves




LEE COUNTY:
The disturbing underworld of sex slavery is the fastest growing crime
in the world. But what people most don't realize is that it's happening
right here in Southwest Florida – from areas you might never expect.
In this world that many people do not even know exists,
children are exploited and sold for sex.
NBC2's Marisa Brahney spoke to a woman named Liz who explained
it is something she has first-hand experience with.
"I was six when my birth mother sold me into prostitution," she
said. "She said, ‘You know, if you love me, you'll do this.' And any
little girl wants to please their parents."
For 10 years, Liz's mother used her - she says - to pay the family
bills by convincing and conditioning her to believe that sex was all
she was good at.
Liz: I had this tunnel vision of, I'm a prostitute.
NBC2: At six-years-old?
Liz: At six-years-old - I'm a prostitute, that's what I do.
I'm going to be the best prostitute out there.
Detective Mike Zaleski, with the Lee County Sheriff's Office,
specializes in human trafficking investigations.
He told NBC2 that in 2008 in Lee County, the unit rescued one trafficking victim.
In 2009, that same unit rescued 22 victims.
"We have domestic victims. We have foreign victims. We have victims
from affluent families and we have victims from poor families," he said.
One recently-rescued victim, Zaleski said,
was plucked right out of an upscale Gateway neighborhood.
"The trafficker promised her everything," he said.
The young girl from a wealthy family was lured by money, clothes,
and a fast lifestyle. Zaleski says the trafficker quickly got the girl
addicted to drugs, forcing her into prostitution with violent threats.
Zaleski: She was posted on the internet as a
prostitute, on a prostitution site. Fifteen hours after that she was in
her first act of prostitution.
NBC2: And this is right here in Lee County?
Zaleski: Right here.
And officials we spoke to said Lee County's problem isn't unusual
for Florida. In fact, it's the number two state for human trafficking
and it's the fastest growing crime in the world. Sadly, 50-percent of
victims worldwide are children.
"As long as there's a demand out there, you're going to be paid
well. And unfortunately, the price was high enough to make it
acceptable for my birth mother to do that," said Liz.
Liz explained she ran away at 16, trying for a new start. But she
says she knew nothing else and ended up falling into the same lifestyle
she was raised in.
"Because I became so numb to that, I could rationalize it - that it
didn't matter, that it didn't hurt that bad, that it wasn't as heinous
as it actually is," she said.
Remarkably she made it to college in Tampa where she continued prostituting.
But by then, she says she knew she wanted out.
"All my life I had wished that somebody would look at me and say,
‘Liz, you're valuable. What are you doing?'" Liz said.
That's when she found Julie Shematz.
Shematz is a victim herself. She worked in strip clubs for years
until one day, while cocktail waitressing, the lifestyle took a very
dark turn.
"The club owner set me up to sell sex for money. And it was coercion - it was fraud," she said.
Shematz eventually escaped, overcoming a drug addiction, graduating
from Purdue and deciding to dedicate her life to helping other victims.
"They find me online, they read what happened and they feel safe connecting to me," said Shematz.
Her non-profit organization, Beauty From Ashes, helps sexual-exploitation victims.
Shematz does outreach in local strip clubs, educating the girls
about her own experience. She also runs a safe house in Lee County
where she teaches victims their value and what it's really like to be
loved.
"The majority of victims don't even realize they're victims," she said.
Shematz said a lot of the girls are just like Liz – girls who are
who are learning how to live a normal life and learning how to connect
emotionally.
Liz is now interning with Beauty From Ashes and said last month - for the first time in a long time – she was able to cry.
"It's the fact that I know that I'm loved. I believe it and I've never been able to say that before," Liz said.
Click here to learn more about Beauty From Ashes. You can also call the toll-free help line at (877) 423-2767.
You can also click here
for information Wings of Shelter Int'l Inc. – another site dedicated to
ending sex slavery. They can be reached at (239) 340-2980.
And at FGCU, from January 20-27, there will be a series of events
about this very topic. It is called, "Out of the Shadows - End Slavery
in Your Neighborhood:
Click here for a schedule of event for the week.
By Marisa Brahney

Conchita Sarnoff in the Huffington Post Blog





Posted: February 17, 2010 11:29 PM




On February 17, 2010, the last page in the front section of The New
York Times reads: "If 12 fully loaded jumbo jets crashed every year,
something would be done about it"... Every year more than 2 million
children are trafficked world-wide. That number is at best conservative
and at worst speculative since there is no systematic data in place.
Problem number one, problem number two is that the number is tripling
by the minute as girls become more expensive to traffick into and out
of the U.S.

"When one plane crashes", the ad continues "the story is in the
headlines for weeks. But the equivalent of 12 planes full of dying
teens every year is barely a blip on the national radar". Agree. In the
past four years I have spent working on this issue the silence behind
Congressional doors has become deafening. The upshot today is that
Hollywood has begun to shine its golden lights on the subject. Three
good American movies can bring you up to speed: Taken, starring Liam Neeson, Human Trafficking, featuring Mira Sorvino and Trade with Kevin Kline as the lead. Maybe this will push Congress to get going.

A bi partisan Caucus lead by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D) New
York and Congressman Christopher Smith (R) New Jersey scheduled an
internal staff briefing on child sex trafficking Thursday, February
18th. This is indeed an auspicious beginning. The challenge lies with
those involved in tomorrow's briefing. They are only at the tip of the
iceberg. Secondly, no one is taking notes. My suggestion would be for
Congress to schedule a full scale hearing featuring experts on all
sides of the issue that is also open to the public.

Since I began this journey I have left few stones unturned when approaching television producers. Time and again I am told that network news
directors, program producers and cable stations are simply not
interested in taking this on. First, it doesn't bring additional ad
dollars and secondly, the subject doesn't attract enough "eyeballs" as
they say in show biz. In my opinion, it doesn't quite fit with the
network's government affairs policy either.

I'll tell you why. The single most divisive issue blanketing child
trafficking remains immigration. The second of course is national
security. Thanks in great part to Monsieur Dobbs immigration has,
become the blazing red hot tamale for all the networks. So what does it
take? A demented Salvadorian fugitive posing as a lawyer representing
alleged American child traffickers in Haiti to focus national
attention? I suppose so. Otherwise, each child would be just another
case of "mistaken identity".

Lastly, if you believe that only Latin, Russian, Balinese, Haitian
or Eastern European children are being sold for sex outside of America
take a long close look at the latest Congressional figures given to me
today: "Over 100,000 children in the United States are currently
exploited through commercial sex. Although it is hard to believe, the
average age of first exploitation is 12-13. We can no longer ignore
that American children in our country are being so horrifically
exploited for economic gain".

Don't be fooled child traffickers are also an equal opportunity
employer. The bottom line remains the same for them as for any other
businessman. The children are simply a commodity to be bought and sold.
Their business is driven by two fundamental principles: supply and
demand and long term productivity.

If we want to abolish child slavery in the 21st Century our world
view must change once again. Congress must shift gears like it did in
1861. For two thousand years or so we have used visible realities to
remind us of invisible ones. So I say, let's create a visible reality
that can sharpen that distinction; the distinction between an active
and inactive Judiciary and one that will allow Congress to create more
stringent legislation against child traffickers.As Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Congressman Chris Smith
judiciously assert in their letter: "in order to reduce child
trafficking we must all care for the victims, ensure adequate resources
for law enforcement and prosecutors... put pimps behind bars,
strengthen deterrence and prevention programs aimed at buyers, and
require timely and accurate reporting of missing children". Amen to
that.

Vancouver WA ---- To Brianna, a sweet-faced honor student and
athlete, it started as a lark: A spur-of-the-moment drive to Seattle in
December to party with two college-age guys she barely knew. They had
shown up at the restaurant in La Center, Clark County, where she worked
just after her 18th birthday.

"They were very well-dressed. They had diamond jewelry and multiple
cellphones. They were driving a Mercedes," she recalled.

They told her she was "better than this small town."

Brianna took her dad's car and drove to Seattle for the day, telling
her parents she was hanging out with friends. Once she arrived, her new
friends persuaded her to stay overnight at their house and offered her a
bedroom.

"It was a beautiful bed with a hot pink cover," Brianna told an
interviewer in January. "Now I know that is a very similar setup to what
they use in child pornography. It's very likely I would have been
filmed in that room."

Brianna, who asked that her last name not be used, told her story to
The Columbian Thursday before going to Olympia for a celebration of a
legislative victory that has special meaning for her.

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed Senate Bill 6476, which increases
penalties for sex traffickers and makes their victims under 18 eligible
for crime-victims' compensation, safe shelter and counseling.

Brianna and her parents accompanied former congresswoman Linda Smith
of Vancouver, who founded Shared Hope International to rescue young
victims of sex trafficking.

Brianna narrowly escaped that fate.

Back in December, she agreed to dance at a Seattle strip club for two
nights. She gave the men who had lured her there most of the money she
was paid. They persuaded her to drain her bank account and turn that
money over to them, too.

"They said, 'Just give it to us. We'll take care of you,' " Brianna
recalled.

There was talk of going to Phoenix to catch some winter sun. There
was talk of how much money she could make if she chose to."They said, 'Go off your looks, you look really young,' " she said.
"I told them I would never do anything like prostitution."

Three days passed. Brianna's cellphone was dying, and she didn't have
her charger.

She knew she was in deep trouble with her dad and needed to return
his car. She got hold of an ex-boyfriend and asked if he could drive her
back to Kelso after she dropped the car off at home. Her "friends"
would pick her up there.

Something didn't sound right to this ex-boyfriend. He called his
parents. As it happened, his dad had heard Linda Smith speak at a Rotary
Club meeting. The father also knew Vancouver police Lt. John Chapman,
who had been working closely with Smith to identify members of
sex-trafficking networks active in Clark County.

Smith got the call at home in the middle of the night. It was the
Saturday before Christmas.

Brianna's mother was frantic. Her daughter wouldn't answer her text
messages. Then a sister told her that she had quit her job. "I was
frightened," she said. "I didn't know what was going on."

Brianna was unaware of any of this when she showed up at her
ex-boyfriend's place.

"When I stepped into his apartment, he locked the door and said, 'You
aren't going anywhere,' " she recalled. "I wasn't believing a word he
was saying. I said, 'I'm leaving.' Then his parents showed up. Then my
mom showed up. Then Linda Smith showed up. It was like, 'Where's Obama?'
"

Before long, Smith was sitting beside Brianna, explaining some
things, like what it means to be "turned" by a pimp.

With no car, no functioning cellphone and no money, she would have
been broke, and no one would know where she was or how to find her.

She had been fingerprinted before dancing in the strip club; that
marked her as a stripper/prostitute in the eyes of the police.

Phoenix is a hub for sex-trafficking, a place where young girls are
in high demand.

"That night she would have been gone," Smith said.

At first Brianna found it hard to believe. Then she remembered some
weird moments.

One of the men had told her the bedroom with the pink bed was his
daughter's, "but there weren't any toys around," she said. It was
creepy, and she refused to sleep in it.

When she asked where the men got all their money, they told her it
was "an inheritance."

But it was when Smith showed her the Las Vegas phone numbers on her
cellphone log that she realized how close she had come.

"I was just walking blindly into this trap," she said.

Today, Brianna is back in the Running Start program at La Center High
and grateful for whatever guardian angels happened to be looking out
for her that December night.

She hopes her story will serve as a cautionary tale for other
teenagers.

As for Smith, she says she has learned some things from Brianna, too.
Until recently, her focus in rescuing victims of sex trafficking has
been on very young teens. "I used to say the vulnerability was highest
among those 11 to 14," she said.

Now she sees young women of 18 or 19 — smart, successful, on the
brink of adulthood and independence — as equally vulnerable, and
deserving of society's protection.